Issue

Vol. 11 (2019)

Flexible Tactile Electronic Skin Sensor with 3D Force Detection Based on Porous CNTs/PDMS Nanocomposites

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-019-0288-7
Xuguang Sun
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Jianhai Sun
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Tong Li
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Shuaikang Zheng
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Chunkai Wang
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Wenshuo Tan
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Jingong Zhang
School of Microelectronics, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China
Chang Liu
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Tianjun Ma
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Zhimei Qi
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Chunxiu Liu
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
Ning Xue
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Ning Xue

xuening@mail.ie.ac.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 11 (2019), Article Number: 57

Abstract

Flexible tactile sensors have broad applications in human physiological monitoring, robotic operation and human–machine interaction. However, the research of wearable and flexible tactile sensors with high sensitivity, wide sensing range and ability to detect three-dimensional (3D) force is still very challenging. Herein, a flexible tactile electronic skin sensor based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposites is presented for 3D contact force detection. The 3D forces were acquired from combination of four specially designed cells in a sensing element. Contributed from the double-sided rough porous structure and specific surface morphology of nanocomposites, the piezoresistive sensor possesses high sensitivity of 12.1 kPa−1 within the range of 600 Pa and 0.68 kPa−1 in the regime exceeding 1 kPa for normal pressure, as well as 59.9 N−1 in the scope of < 0.05 N and > 2.3 N−1 in the region of < 0.6 N for tangential force with ultra-low response time of 3.1 ms. In addition, multi-functional detection in human body monitoring was employed with single sensing cell and the sensor array was integrated into a robotic arm for objects grasping control, indicating the capacities in intelligent robot applications.


Highlights:


1 Flexible sensitive carbon nanotubes/polydimethylsiloxane (CNTs/PDMS) nanocomposite with novel double-side rough porous structure was proposed by simple manufacturing methods.
2 Three-dimensional (3D) force tactile electronic skin sensor based on CNTs/PDMS nanocompositions exhibited high sensitivity, good consistency and fast response.
3 A promising strategy for low-cost multi-functional detection in human body monitoring and intelligent robot grasping applications was provided.

Keywords

Flexible tactile sensors Electronic skin Piezoresistive sensors CNTs/PDMS nanocomposites 3D force detection
Sun, Xuguang, Jianhai Sun, Tong Li, Shuaikang Zheng, Chunkai Wang, Wenshuo Tan, Jingong Zhang, Chang Liu, Tianjun Ma, Zhimei Qi, Chunxiu Liu, and Ning Xue. 2019. “Flexible Tactile Electronic Skin Sensor With 3D Force Detection Based on Porous CNTs/PDMS Nanocomposites”. Nano-Micro Letters 11 (July):57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-019-0288-7.
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